PlumbingBossPro Blog — Water Heaters & Maintenance Plans

How to Price a Water Heater Flush Plan for a Plumbing Company

Price a flush plan too low and you are running a charity with a van. Price it too high and nobody signs up. There is no single right number, because labor, drive time and what your market will bear vary from town to town. What follows is a way to think it through so the number you pick actually works for your shop.

Before You Set a Number

The form in The Maintenance Plan Sign-Up Form: Card Captured Before the Plumber's First Visit asks you to state the price at the top. That means deciding it first. Before you do, write down what one visit actually costs you.

• Tech time on site. A tank flush with the checklist, the anode rod check, the T&P test and the pressure reading is not a ten-minute job. Time a few real visits.
• Drive time. If maintenance visits are routed by area, drive time between stops is short. If they are scattered, it is not.
• Van cost. Fuel, insurance, payments and wear, spread across the hours the van is working.
• Materials. Small items like a hose washer or a drain valve cap add up.
• Office time. Scheduling, reminders and billing. Software cuts this down but does not make it zero.

Start With Your Service Call Price

Most plumbing companies already have a service call fee that the market accepts. A flush visit takes about as long as a typical service call, sometimes longer. That makes your service call price a reasonable floor for a yearly flush.

For example, a shop charging $89 for a service call might price a yearly flush and inspection at $129 to $169. Those are example numbers only. Run your own costs and your own market.

Choose One or Two Member Perks

The flush alone is a service. The plan is the flush plus a reason to stay. Common perks plumbing companies use:

• A lower service call fee for members, such as $59 instead of $89.
• A fixed dollar amount off repairs, like $25 off any repair.
• Priority scheduling on non-emergency calls.
• The inspection report every year, which many homeowners like to keep for when they sell.

Pick one or two you can actually deliver. A perk you cannot honor on a busy week does more harm than no perk at all. Priority scheduling in particular sounds easy until a cold snap fills every van; if you promise it, have a plan for how the office will actually honor it when the phone is ringing nonstop.

Tankless, Attics and Second Items

Not every visit is the same work, and the price should reflect that.

• Tankless descaling takes different equipment and often longer. Many shops price it as its own plan. See Tankless Descaling Plans: Recurring Maintenance for Tankless Water Heaters.
• Attic and crawlspace units take longer. You can add a fixed amount for hard-access locations. The location on the house record tells the office which members those are.
• A second water heater or a softener at the same house can be added at a lower price, since the drive is already paid for.

In PlumbingBossPro, your services and prices come from your own service list, so a flush, a tankless descaling and an add-on for a second unit can each be their own line.

Charge Per Visit or Up Front?

The simplest approach is to charge the card on file when each visit is completed. The member pays for what they get, when they get it, and there are no refunds to work out if they cancel.

Some shops prefer to charge a yearly fee at sign-up or split it monthly. Charging on a schedule is possible, but think about what happens when someone cancels after a few payments. Per-visit billing at completion keeps the math clean.

Keep It Simple Enough to Say Out Loud

The real test of a plan price is whether a tech can explain it at the end of a repair call in one sentence. “$129 a year, we flush it, test the valves, check your pressure, and you save $30 on any service call.” If it takes a brochure, simplify it.

One clear plan sells better than three tiers. You can always add a premium option later once you know what members ask for.

Revisit the Price Once a Year

Costs rise. Look at the plan price every year, around the same time you review your service call fee. When you raise it, tell members ahead of time in a text or email, and let the change take effect at their next visit. To see how pricing fits into sign-ups, scheduling and billing, return to the PlumbingBossPro water heater service software overview.